Addiction is defined by Webster Dictionary as a “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly: persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful”.
Statistics has it that 35% of Americans lose their job due to social media addiction per year. Problematic Internet use is also called compulsive Internet use (CIU),Internet overuse, problematic computer use, or pathological computer use (PCU), problematic Internet use (PIU), or Internet addiction disorder (IAD)). Another commonly associated pathology is video game addiction, or Internet gaming disorder (IGD).
Other research also stresses the fact that the Internet addiction disorder is not a one-dimensional but a multidimensional construct. Various facets of Internet use must be differentiated because of their differential predictors, mechanisms and consequences. Online activities which, if done in person, would normally be considered troublesome, such as compulsive gambling, or shopping, are sometimes called net compulsions.
Net compulsions
Compulsive online gaming, online gambling, and use of online auction sites are all classed as categories of Internet Addiction that are said to often result in financial and job-related problems. Internet users can become easily addicted to these types of online activity, rather than the Internet itself.
Accessibility: Because of the convenience of the Internet, users now have easy and immediate access to gambling, shopping and gaming at any time of day, without the hassles of everyday life (e.g. travelling or queues).
Control: Users are in control of their own online activity. With the use of newer technology such as tablet computers and smartphones, users can go to the bathroom or another private place to engage with the Internet, without others knowing about it.
Excitement: Internet users often get an excited feeling of a ‘rush’ or a “buzz” that they get when winning an online auction, a video game or online gambling. Gambling, gaming and online bidding all provide positive feedback that can result in addictive behaviour. Users will use the net as a way of gaining this emotion.
Internet addiction and pornography
Young (1999), a founding member of The Centre for On-Line Addiction, claims Internet addiction is a broad term that covers a wide variety of behaviors and impulse control problems. She claims this is categorized by five specific sub-types including:
- Cybersexual Addiction: compulsive use of adult websites for cybersex and cyberporn.
- Cyber-Relationship Addiction: Over-involvement in online relationships.
- Net compulsions: Obsessive online gambling, shopping or day-trading.
- Information overload: Compulsive web surfing or database searches.
- Computer addiction: Obsessive computer game playing.
Cyber-relationship addiction
Cyber-relationship addiction is one impulse-control problem that is covered within the Internet addiction disorder. It has been supported by different articles over the years, including Ramdhonee’s “Psychological impact of internet usage on children and adolescents” and Young’s Internet addiction: Symptoms, evaluation and treatment.
A cyber-relationship addiction has been described as the addiction to social networking in all forms. Social networking such as Facebook, and online
Issues within cyber-relationship addiction
Cyber-relationships can often be more intense than real-life relationships, causing addiction to the relationship. With the ability to create whole new personas, people can often deceive the person they are communicating with. Everyone is looking for the perfect companion but the perfect companion online is not always the perfect companion in real life. Although two people can commit to a cyber-relationship, while offline, one of them could possibly not be the person they are claiming to be online.
Internet addiction disorder has also been found to correlate positively with damaged self-esteem, which underlying mechanism parallels that of clinical conditions such as bulimia nervosa. This occurrence of compulsions may be attributed to an automatic defense mechanism in which the individual avoids anxiety.
A 2009 study suggested that brain structural changes were present in those classified by the researchers as Internet addicted, similar to those classified as chemically addicted.
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